Man accused of texting death threats to Ramaswamy faces similar charges involving 2 more candidates
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A New Hampshire man who was released from jail after he was accused of sending text messages threatening to kill a presidential candidate now faces two more charges that he threatened the lives of different candidates.
Tyler Anderson, 30, of Dover, was indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday on three counts of sending a threat using interstate commerce. He is scheduled to be arraigned on Jan. 5.
A message seeking comment was sent to his lawyer.
Anderson was arrested on Dec. 9 and was released Dec. 14. A federal judge set forth several conditions for his release, including that he avoid contact with any presidential candidate and their political campaigns. Anderson, who is receiving mental health treatment, must also take all of his prescribed medications. Guns in his home, belonging to a roommate, must be removed.
The U.S. Attorney’s office did not name the candidates. When Anderson was arrested, a spokesperson for Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said that the texts were directed at his campaign. According to court documents, Anderson received a text message from the candidate’s campaign notifying him of a breakfast event in Portsmouth. The campaign staff received two text messages in response. One threatened to shoot the candidate in the head, the other threatened to kill everyone at the event and desecrate their corpses.
Anderson had told the FBI in an interview that he had sent similar texts to “multiple other campaigns,” according to a court document.
The latest charges say similar texts were sent to two different candidates before the Ramaswamy messages, on Nov. 22 and Dec. 6.
On Nov. 22, a campaign received texts threatening to “impale” and “disembowel” a candidate. On Dec. 6, texts were sent to another candidate’s campaign with threats to shoot the candidate in the head and conduct a mass shooting.
A court document filed when Anderson was arrested included a screenshot of texts from Dec. 6 threatening a mass shooting in response to an invitation to see a candidate “who isn’t afraid to tell it like it is.” Republican Chris Christie calls his events “Tell it Like It Is Town Halls.”
A spokesperson for the Christie campaign had thanked law enforcement officials for addressing those threats.
Each charge provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.